


Portrait Mode (Part Three)

by skymageariel



Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [29]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Artist AU, F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, Slow Burn, idk - Freeform, school au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27758752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel
Summary: Callum figures out which foreign-exchange student is living with his aunt.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946767
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	Portrait Mode (Part Three)

Rayla walked into biology the next day with a bit of trepidation. She walked in, noticing the boy in the front again. He didn’t see her, though. He was focused instead on that notebook he’d been scribbling in the day before. This time, however, his movements were small. Regardless of this weird boy’s movements, Rayla sat in the back of the class again; same seat as before, wondering which one of the kids filing in would be Callum.

She looked for someone who had similar features to Amaya. They were family, after all. But none of the kids coming in really matched Amaya all that well. She had short, straight black hair that stuck out in random places. She had thick eyebrows and perpetual blush dusting her cheeks. Her face was structured, with sharp cheekbones and an even sharper jawline. Not quite angular, but pointed. None of the kids Rayla saw looked anything similar. Until a certain someone stood up from his desk at the front of the room, glancing back nervously before he walked down the aisle towards Rayla.

“Hi,” he said, nervous. “I’m Callum. Are you Rayla?” He smiled shyly, piercing green eyes that didn’t match Amaya’s at all. But he did have short, dark hair that stuck out in all directions. He had thick eyebrows, cheeks permanently pink. 

“Yeah, that’s me,” Rayla said. Callum smiled, sitting in the desk next to hers. 

“Cool,” he breathed, opening that notebook again, turning the pages. “I’m sorry to bother you, really,” he chuckled, “I’m sure there were a thousand other ways I could have gotten in touch-“

“No, no, it’s okay,” Rayla assured him, smiling at how quickly he spoke. He was a bit awkward, she knew that, but he was genuine. “I’m happy to help in any way I can.”

“Cool accent, by the way,” Callum told her as he continued to flip through the pages. He finally stopped at one and held the book up in front of her. Rayla was surprised to see that he’d.. sketched her. “I saw you yesterday, and before I knew I’d be working with you, I kinda…” he trailed off. Rayla stared in shock at the page. It was in perfect likeness. 

“How did you do that?” she asked, dumbfounded as she carefully took the notebook from his hands to get a closer look. Everything was perfect- the way her hair framed her face, the scowl she’d been told rests on her face, the tiny points on the tips of her ears. Even the tiny, faint freckles that only existed on the bridge of her nose. 

“I don’t know,” Callum shrugged. “I have a good memory, so I just kind of… remembered what you looked like. The nose is kind of big, though, so just ignore that,” he said, sucking in a breath. “I had a few places in mind we could go. For the painting, I mean.”

Rayla looked up. “Places to go?”

“I mean- unless you wanted to just stay here. I’m just good at nature backgrounds, so I figured we could find some park or something.”

“That actually sounds great,” Rayla beamed. “I’ve been dying to see the state, I’ve heard that it’s beautiful, but I haven’t seen much of it.”

“Well if you want to go sightseeing, there’s a million other places we could go.” His face lit up as he spoke. “There’s the boardwalk about twenty minutes from my aunt’s house, or the park down the street from the school. The trees there are  _ huge _ , and I’ve always wanted to climb them. Or even the trails uptown- they lead to some gorgeous overlooks that-“ Callum cut himself off, cheeks growing red. “Nevermind,” he laughed nervously, taking his sketchbook back. Rayla smiled cheekily.

“If you wanted to ask me on a date, just say so,” she teased as the bell rang overhead, making his whole face go scarlet. Messing with this kid would be fun.

“I- uh- so, uhm-“ he stuttered before landing on, “Just tell me which sounds best and we can go there for the portrait. Cool? Cool,” he said everything in one breath, rushing back to his desk up front. She watched him duck back into his seat, hunched over the notebook again, erasing something on Rayla’s page before drawing something else in. Deciding to forget about it, Rayla pulled out her own notebook and started jotting down the warm up their teacher had put on the board. 

—

That day, on the bus, Rayla sat in the same seat she did the day before, as did everyone else. No one spoke to each other, no one sat near each other. And it was perfect. Pulling out her headphones, Rayla was ready for another quiet ride. That is, until she saw a familiar face with familiar green eyes walk on the bus. He handed a slip to the bus driver who nodded and let him pass. Two steps into the aisle, Callum’s face lit up as he spotted Rayla in the backseat.

“What are you doing on bus 54?” he smiled as he sat in the seat across the aisle. 

“I’m going home to my host family’s house,” Rayla replied. “What about you?”

“My brother and I are spending the weekend at my aunt’s house. She’s housing a foreign exchange student too! Maybe you guys should meet,” he said, completely oblivious. Rayla tried not to laugh. Did he not know that  _ she  _ was the one staying with Amaya? 

“Where is their exchange student from?” she asked, trying to mask a smile.

“Oh, they’re from Scotland, too! Maybe you two already know each other!”

Rayla sighed. “I don’t know,” she said, feigning ignorance, “Scotland’s a pretty big place. What school are they going to here in the states?”

“Ours, actually!” Callum said. After a split second, he frowned, brows furrowing slightly, before his cheeks and ears turned bright red. “It’s you, isn’t it,” he muttered, embarrassed. Rayla couldn’t help but laugh.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to figure that one out,” she snickered.

For just a moment, Callum forgot he was embarrassed. Rayla had a really nice laugh, and a really pretty smile. But when she looked back at him with that mischievous smile, Callum wanted to crawl under his covers back home and never leave. 

“Sometimes I’m slow,” he replied, looking away and clearing his throat “Have you given any thought to a location?”

“Somewhere with trees,” Rayla said, directly. “The trees here are really pretty.”

“Yeah,” Callum agreed absentmindedly, noticing how the sun sparkled in her eyes. “Trees are cool.”

They rode in silence for the rest of the trip. Rayla put on headphones, listening to music and eventually falling asleep against the window. The winter sun had begun to set by 4 P.M, sending golden light cascading through the pine trees, leaving fleeting shadows on Rayla’s cheek as she slept. Aside from the engine, the bus was quiet. It was peaceful- well, as close to peaceful as a public school bus could get. On instinct, Callum pulled his sketchbook out of his backpack. It wasn’t as much a sketchbook as it was a lined notebook left over from back to school shopping six month ago. But he’d filled it with drawings of almost every person he’d ever met. And now, it had a sketch of Rayla. Soon, it would have two. 

His pencil moved rapidly across the lined page as the bus continued down the road. As he drew, he couldn’t help but notice the tiny subtle features that made her so unique. Her ears pointed upwards, like she was a fairy or an elf, platinum blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, tangled and unbrushed. And those tiny, faint freckles that dusted the bridge of her nose were imperative to his drawing. He’d love to know more about her. She was this mysterious transfer student from another country, she’s  _ bound  _ to have a story or two. Maybe she had siblings. Maybe her siblings and Callum’s brother Ezran would get along. Oh, he couldn’t wait for Ezran and Rayla to meet. Ez had a knack for making a space for himself in everyone’s heart. Callum knew Rayla and Ezran would be best friends. 

Before he knew it, his sketch had stemmed into madness. It looked just like her, but it desperately needed an outline. The bumpy bus ride had left ridges and holes in the lines whenever Callum’s pencil touched the page. An untrained eye would write it off as a stylistic choice, but the broken and messy sketch just wouldn’t slide with him. When he got home he’d trace over it in pen, but for now, this was as good as it got. 

Some time later, the bus pulled up in front of Amaya’s and Janai’s house. But when the bus stopped, Rayla didn’t wake up. Callum stood to leave, pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

“Hey, Rayla, this is our stop,” he said but she just breathed deeper. “Rayla.” No reply. Callum sat next to her, tapping her shoulder. “Hello?” Ripping out one of her earbuds, he said again, “Rayla, this is our stop, we need to go.”

“Where are we?” She sat up with a star, eyes wide, hair a mess. Callum smiled.

“You fell asleep on the bus. This is our stop.”

“Oh.” Rayla stood, groggy as she pulled her backpack over her shoulders. “Thanks.” She rubbed her eyes as they walked off the bus. Stepping outside into the brisk Washington air, they walked in unison to the doorsteps of the house, Rayla shivering slightly. 

“Long night?” Callum asked, looking over at her tired eyes as they opened the door.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Just tired.” As soon as they stepped through the door, a young boy with extreme energy ran up towards them.

“Callum!” he yelled, tackling him in a wind-knocking hug. “You’re home!”

“Hey, Ez, how was school?” Callum wrapped his arms around his younger brother.

“It was good! We started reading that book you gave me last summer in class!”

“Oh,  _ The Giver _ ?”

“Yeah! I already know everything that's gonna happen since I read it already,” Ezran laughed as they walked into the house.

“That’s awesome, Ez! Is anyone else home?”

“Aunt Janai went to the store, she’ll be back soon.”

“And she left you home alone?” Callum asked, looking around the spotless and seemingly empty house. 

“No, Aunt Amaya’s at the neighbor’s for a carton of eggs. Something about needing to bake a cake.” Ezran shrugged, bounding up the stairs to the room he and Callum would be sharing for the weekend. “I’m gonna get unpacked!” he shouted throughout the house.

“A cake?” Callum said to Rayla, who was smiling.

“She tried to bake a cake yesterday- it did not end well,” she said, moving upstairs. Callum followed behind, laughing.

“Aunt Amaya tried to bake? Yeah, that never ends well. One time, she and my step-dad tried to bake Ezran’s birthday cake. Long story short, we had to evacuate while Aunt Janai made an emergency trip to the grocery store for a new dessert.”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised,” Rayla joked as they reached the top of the stairs. They stood in awkward silence, neither of them sure what to say next. Callum stared at his feet. Rayla cleared her throat. 

“Well, I know a place we could go for the portrait. I’m gonna ask Ezran if he wants to come.” Callum broke the silence, stepping back towards his and his brother’s room.

“Sounds good,” Rayla agreed, disappearing behind her own door. Deciding to ignore the absolute trainwreck that was the end of that conversation, Callum ducked into his room, finding Ezran, who was shoving all his clothes messily into a dresser drawer.

“Hey, Ez,” Callum said. “Wanna go to Beacon Rock Park later?” He dropped his backpack into the desk chair. 

Ezran’s face lit up. “Really?! Today?”

“Maybe. Probably tomorrow, though. I’m gonna paint Rayla for a project, so I’ll need all the sunlight I can get,” he explained, looking out the window at the darkening sky.

“I’d love to come,” Ezran said, grinning widely. Callum opened his backpack, pulling his sketchbook out and dropping it on the desk. Shoving his backpack out of the way, Callum sat down and opened to the page he’d drawn on the bus. Rayla sleeping peacefully against the bus window, trees whizzing by in the background. If he had the choice, Callum would finish the lineart on this now and turn  _ this  _ in for his art project. But no. It  _ had _ to be a painting. 

Callum continued to brood about the painting ahead of him as he traced the lines with pen, cheek resting on his head. Ezran snuck over Callum’s shoulder, watching him work. But once he realized who he was drawing, Ezran immediately started to sicker.

“Oooo, you  _ like  _ her, ooo,” he teased, sending Callum into fight or flight. 

“What! No!” Callum slammed the notebook shut. “What are you talking about!”

“Heehee you  _ like herrr _ -“

“Nuh uh!” He swiped the sketchbook off the desk in a panic, sending it crashing to the ground. The notebook landed on its spine, lying flat open on an early page. A sketch of Claudia. Great.

“Oh, not Rayla, but  _ Claaauuddiaa _ !” Ezran laughed, snatching the sketchbook off the ground. “Callum likes Claudia! Callum likes Claudia!” He paraded around the room, shouting the phrase “Callum likes Claudia!” Over and over for the whole house to hear. 

“Ezran! Be quiet!” Callum yelled back, trying his best to grab the sketchbook back. He was not succeeding.

In the room across the hall, Rayla was listening to this whole ordeal in perfect clarity. Callum and Claudia. Not a pairing she would have chosen, but it could work. She shrugged and went back to her english homework, pretending she hadn’t used Callum’s name for a character in her short story assignment. 

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi! welcome to part thee- the second to last installment before the last part tomorrow! i hope youre enjoying this miniseries <3 i can’t believe this 31 days series is almost over! thanks to everyone who have stuck around !


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